Why don't they consider lowering pay for the officers? Don't they start at around $100,000/year. I can't imagine recruitment would suffer that much in this economy and few of the current officers would leave. I would hate to see the city wind up like SF where they cut jobs then pay the remaining employees ridiculous amounts of overtime to pick up the slack.

Call me naive but $100K for a Records Specialist? Wow. OK, I know, a big part of that is benefits. I'd feel better if this story included info on how MVPD pay compares to other departments in Silicon Valley.

Anon - It is interesting that you state a point that the writters of these "Salary" stories that get everyone so fired up..."I'd feel better if this story included info on how MVPD pay compares to other departments in Silicon Valley." So here is a quick look at that (annual top-step officer pay *** Not Starting***):

Fremont $98,364
Los Gatos $99,361
Milpitas $106,517
Mountain View $102,428
San Jose $107,853
Santa Clara $119,904
Sunnyvale $105,852

Let's look at the career of a police officer - Part solider, part lawyer, part social work / mediator. You pay officers to go, see and deal with events and people that most of us (including me) won't go. Do you really want to pay a fresh out of college with no life experience making decisions that can effect the lives of you, me our neighbors? I think not. I want the smart, tough, compassionate cops there when I need them. I want the fire fighters (they should be call medical fighters because they rarely fight fires any more) that paid attention in training to be there when I am having a heart attack. If you don't pay these people the norm then you will have a force that the reports can write much more about because they will be making mistakes. Mistakes in the form of taking away peoples liberties, large lawsuits that the city will have to payout, injuries and death. Lower quality employees equals more crime and lower quality of life for us as we know it. These men and women are going to be having a bigger battle coming towards them when the budget hits the state prison system and the governor lets a bunch of criminals out. Please don't continue to sensationalize these budget stories and rumors it is just poor journalism ethics. Just a view from your neighbor who thinks that the police are under paid for the lives they live…glad it is not me.

THANK YOU! Finally, a voice of reason. Police and Fire deserve every cent for what they endure on a daily basis and what they will live with for the rest of their lives.

Happy with Police,

I stand corrected! Thank you for providing the comparative salaries that I did not see in this article. I too am a huge fan of the MVPD, and a graduate of the MVPD Citizens Police Academy. Your additional info tells me that our MV officers are being paid what looks to me as about "the going rate" in this area, which is exactly what I asked, and I agree they are worth every cent.

I'm glad that you know how to find, and that you shared, this salary data for comparison.

I'm NOT sure that a Records Specialist (the example used in the story) is worth $100K. It sounds like a clerical position and if so, a lot of money, but if I knew more about the job responsibilities and comparable pay in the public/private sector for that type of work I could change my tune. Guess I should do more homework before speaking out.

I too believe we should support our police and fire departments, but there is such a thing as "too much of a good thing".

50 percent of our city budget is too high for just two departments. In good times it may be Ok, but not when the economy is in emergency mode as it is now,

In an emergency even our emergency personnel must feel the pain.